Not so supreme: Approval rating of Supreme Court 'close to an all time low'

“As the Supreme Court prepares to hear arguments on two same-sex marriage cases, and with several other high-profile cases on its docket, the court’s favorability rating remains close to an all-time low,” says a Pew Research Center survey, which also revealed that just 9 percent of Republican conservatives say the court steered by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. is actually conservative.

Forty-seven percent of Republicans have a favorable opinion, up from 38 percent in July, following endless discussions about health care reform.

By contrast, favorable sentiment among Democrats slipped from 64 percent to 56 percent.

“About as many conservative Republicans say the Supreme Court is liberal (45 percent) as middle of the road (39 percent). Very few conservative Republicans, just 9 percent, say the court is conservative,” the survey says.

“Nearly half of liberal Democrats (48 percent) say the Supreme Court is conservative; 31 percent say it is middle of the road and just 15 percent view the court’s ideology as liberal.”